Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XXXII champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Atlanta Falcons to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1998 season. The Broncos defeated the Falcons by the score of 34–19, winning their second consecutive Super Bowl. The game was played on January 31, 1999, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida (now part of the suburb of Miami Gardens, which became a separate city in 2003).
The defending Super Bowl champion Broncos entered the game with an AFC-best 14–2 regular season record. The Falcons, under former Broncos head coach Dan Reeves, were making their first Super Bowl appearance after also posting a 14–2 regular season record.
Aided by quarterback John Elway's 80-yard touchdown pass to receiver Rod Smith, the Broncos scored 17 consecutive points to build a 17–3 lead in the second quarter from which the Falcons could not recover. In the final game of his career before his announced retirement on May 2, 1999, Elway completed 18 of 29 passes for 336 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and also scored a 3-yard rushing touchdown. At 38 years old, Elway became the oldest player to be named Super Bowl MVP, a record that stood until Tom Brady surpassed it in 2017 at the age of 39, coincidentally also against the Falcons.
Background Host selection process NFL owners originally voted to award Super Bowl XXXIII to Candlestick Park in San Francisco during the owners meeting in Rosemont, Illinois on November 2, 1994. Two cities were in consideration for the game, San Francisco and Miami (Joe Robbie Stadium). Though Miami's bid was considered superior, San Francisco was the favorite since the Bay Area had not hosted the game since 1985. The host committee was also promising $26 million in stadium renovations. Before long, however, it became unclear if the proposed stadium renovations would happen. The game was formally withdrawn from San Francisco in March 1996. Al Davis made a pitch to keep the game in the Bay Area by moving it over to Oakland Coliseum, but the idea failed to gain any support.
In the fall of 1996, the NFL reopened the bidding from scratch. The NFL owners scheduled a vote during the October 31, 1996, meeting in New Orleans, which was to award two Super Bowls, XXXIII and XXXIV. A total of five cities submitted bids: Miami (Joe Robbie Stadium), Atlanta (Georgia Dome), Tampa (Raymond James Stadium), Phoenix/Tempe (Sun Devil Stadium), and Los Angeles (Coliseum). Miami, a previous finalist for the game, was an early favorite. Tampa also became a favorite after voters passed a ballot measure in September 1996 to fund the construction of a new stadium. NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue threw his support behind Tampa based on the new stadium plans. The Los Angeles host committee originally was going to partner with Pasadena (Rose Bowl), but switched their plans to the Coliseum after a renovation plan was announced. However, the Los Angeles bid was dismissed when their delegation failed to convince the owners that planned stadium renovations would be completed in time.
Owners initially planned on selecting only two hosts (XXXIII and XXXIV), but decided to name three after strong showings by the respective delegations. Miami, Atlanta, and Tampa were selected to host XXXIII, XXXIV, and XXXV, respectively. This was the eighth time that the South Florida area hosted the game, and the third at Joe Robbie Stadium.
Denver Broncos
Following the Broncos' victory during Super Bowl XXXII the previous season, many wondered if 15-year veteran quarterback John Elway would retire after finally winning a Super Bowl. But Elway decided to stay with the Broncos and see if he could lead them to a second consecutive championship. Under the leadership of head coach Mike Shanahan, the Broncos stormed to the top of the AFC with a 14–2 regular record in 1998, winning their first 13 games before suffering their first loss to the New York Giants and would lose again the very next week against the Miami Dolphins on Monday night, only to win a meaningless season finale against the Seattle Seahawks. The losses to the Giants and Dolphins didn't hurt the Broncos' playoff chances as they already had their division (and home-field advantage) locked up.
The Broncos' offense, under the leadership of Elway and running back Terrell Davis, had another outstanding regular season, ranking second in the NFL with 501 points and third in total offense with 6,276 yards. Davis had one of the greatest seasons of any running back in NFL history, rushing for 2,008 yards, catching 25 passes for 217 yards, and scoring 23 touchdowns to earn him both the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award. Nevertheless, Davis' rushing numbers did not reduce Elway's passing production. The 38-year-old quarterback made the Pro Bowl for the 3rd year in a row and the 9th time in his career, throwing for 2,806 yards and 22 touchdowns, with only 10 interceptions. A big reason for Elway's passing success was that he had two Pro Bowl wide receivers and a Pro Bowl tight end to throw to. Wide receivers Ed McCaffrey (64 receptions, 1,053 yards and 10 touchdowns) and Rod Smith (86 receptions, 1,222 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 66 rushing yards) provided the team with outstanding deep threats, while tight end Shannon Sharpe (64 receptions, 786 yards and 10 touchdowns) provided a sure-handed target over the middle. In week 3 against the Oakland Raiders, Elway pulled his hamstring, forcing the Broncos to go with veteran journeyman Bubby Brister. Despite losing Elway to injury the Broncos didn't lose a beat, as Brister won all four games that he started and posted a higher quarterback rating than Elway for the season. The Broncos also had three Pro Bowlers anchoring their offensive line: center Tom Nalen, guard Mark Schlereth, and tackle Tony Jones. On special teams, running back Vaughn Hebron returned 46 kickoffs for 1,216 yards and a touchdown, giving him a 26.4 yards per return average.
The Broncos' defense typically did not get as much attention as their offense, but it was still effective, giving up 308 points (8th fewest in the NFL). Up front, the line was anchored by defensive tackles Maa Tanuvasa and Trevor Pryce, who each recorded 8.5 sacks. Behind them, Pro Bowl linebacker Bill Romanowski recorded 55 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, and 2 interceptions. The secondary was led by Pro Bowler Steve Atwater and Darrien Gordon, who led the team with 4 interceptions, which he returned for 125 yards and a touchdown. Gordon was also a great punt returner, returning 34 punts for 379 yards.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons advanced to their first Super Bowl in franchise history. Like the Broncos, they finished the 1998 regular season with a 14–2 record, including wins in each of their last nine games. Unlike the Broncos, the Falcons' success in 1998 was very surprising to many because they had a 7–9 record in the previous season and a 3–13 record the year before that. In fact, the franchise recorded just four non-losing seasons in the nineteen years prior to 1998, and just two in its previous fifteen.
The Falcons' fortunes began to improve after Dan Reeves became their head coach in 1997. During Reeves' first season with Atlanta, they finished the season 6–2, after starting out 1–7, to compile a 7–9 record overall. Reeves was the Broncos' head coach from 1981 to 1992, leading the Elway-led Broncos to Super Bowls XXI, XXII, and XXIV. However Elway and the Broncos lost all three, including a 55–10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIV. Reeves was in constant conflict with his coaching staff and some of his players for the three ensuing seasons. The Broncos fired Reeves after the 1992 season and Reeves spent four seasons as the head coach of the New York Giants before joining the Falcons.
Pro Bowl quarterback Chris Chandler led the Falcons' offense extremely well, throwing for 3,154 yards and 25 touchdowns with just 12 interceptions, while also rushing for 121 yards and 2 touchdowns. Backup quarterback Steve DeBerg (who was Reeves' quarterbacks coach with the Giants in 1995 and 1996) had come out of retirement as a player after 5 years and played in place of an injured Chandler in the October 25 game against the New York Jets. Wide receivers Tony Martin and Terance Mathis provided the team with a superb deep threat, each recording over 60 receptions and 1,100 receiving yards, while also combining for 17 touchdowns. Tight end O.J. Santiago added 27 receptions for 428 yards and 5 scores. However, the biggest threat on offense was Pro Bowl running back Jamal Anderson, who rushed for 1,846 yards, caught 27 passes for 319 yards, and scored 16 total touchdowns. Rookie wide receiver Tim Dwight gave the team a great special teams attack, gaining a total of 1,236 yards and scoring a touchdown on kickoff and punt returns.
The Falcons' defense ranked second in the league for fewest rushing yards allowed (1,203), eighth for fewest total yards allowed (5,009), and fourth for fewest points allowed. Defensive linemen Lester Archambeau (10 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 5 forced fumbles), Chuck Smith (8.5 sacks, 4 fumble recoveries, 3 forced fumbles) and Shane Dronett (6.5 sacks, 4 force fumbles) excelled at pressuring quarterbacks and stopping the run. Behind them, the Falcons had two outstanding linebackers, Pro Bowler Jessie Tuggle (65 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery) and Cornelius Bennett (69 tackles, 1 sack, 2 fumble recoveries). Bennett played with the Buffalo Bills when they suffered their four consecutive defeats in Super Bowls XXV, XXVI, XXVII, and XXVIII; and thus was determined to finally get a championship ring that had eluded him in the past. The Falcons' secondary was led by Pro Bowl cornerback Ray Buchanan, who recorded seven interceptions and 102 return yards, and Pro Bowl safety Eugene Robinson (four interceptions), who was with the Green Bay Packers when they appeared in Super Bowls XXXI and XXXII.
The season was punctuated by Reeves receiving emergency coronary bypass surgery after Week 14. Doctors said he could have been "within hours of a catastrophic heart attack." Although asked to rest for at least six weeks, Reeves returned to the sidelines for Week 17. Then-defensive coordinator Rich Brooks substituted for Reeves as head coach in Weeks 15 and 16, and won both games.
The Falcons did not return to the Super Bowl until 2016, when they lost 34–28 in overtime to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.
Playoffs
The Broncos avenged their Monday night loss to the Miami Dolphins, a team which had the number one defense in the league that year, 38–3 in the divisional round and then beat the New York Jets, who had the second best defense in the NFL that year, 23–10 in the AFC Championship game. After the Jets scored on a John Hall field goal to take a 3-0 lead at halftime, and increasing it on a Curtis Martin touchdown run to make it 10-0 early in the 3rd quarter, the Broncos took control of the rest of the game scoring 23 unanswered points. Meanwhile, the Falcons were victorious against the San Francisco 49ers, 20–18 and then upset the heavily favored 15–1 Minnesota Vikings on the road, 30–27 in overtime.
This was the third Super Bowl in history that featured two teams with fewer than three losses, and second since the advent of the 16-game schedule. Both teams came into the game with 16–2 records after the playoffs. The first was Super Bowl XII, featuring two 12–2 teams: the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos. The only Super Bowl featuring a better matchup record-wise was Super Bowl XIX, when the San Francisco 49ers had a 17–1 record and the Miami Dolphins had a 16–2 record.
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